Orioles Salvage Series in Tampa; Are Things Getting Any Better?

The Orioles finally snapped out a five game losing streak as Brian Roberts hit a grand slam in fifth inning and Nolan Reimold followed up with a three-run shot of this own in to led them to a victory over the Rays, 8-7.

Brian Matusz earned his second major league win as a he looked solid on the evening. He went 5 1/3 innings and allowed four runs on seven hits, and struck out seven batters. He got knocked out of the game as Ben Zobrist took him deep, and while the Oriole bullpen held their own, things got a little scary in the eighth as Tampa scored three more times to come one of the lead, 8-7; however, closer Jim Johnson got a four-out save, his fifth to save it for Baltimore.

The Orioles are now 9-24 since the All-Star, and it's needless to say that well, they are struggling; however, in spite of the losing, the young pitching seems to be improving as both Jason Berken and Chris Tillman had decent starts in game one and two, respectively. Right now, the Orioles are 49-72 and while that record doesn't inspire much as a fan for me at all -- at least the team isn't using veteran retreads and have pieces for the future in their lineup.

With four rookies in the rotation -- all who have seen the ups and downs of major league life -- the Orioles are looking more like the Nationals than the Rays, but I still do have reason to believe that the future is far better than the present right now.